State vows to act on ticket 'loophole'

The Bracks Government is considering changing the law to widen the powers of public transport ticket inspectors after a man who refused to show his tram ticket won a Supreme Court victory yesterday.

Justice Michael Nettle upheld the acquittal of Michael Orlowski, of Kew, who failed to produce his ticket after leaving a tram in Swanston Street, Carlton, on May 10 last year.

Although Mr Orlowski had a valid ticket, he decided to make a stand against inspectors operating at tram stops and refused to show it.

Mr Orlowski was charged and subsequently acquitted by magistrate John Hardy, who ruled there was no power to request him to produce the ticket after he had completed his journey.

Justice Nettle, in a published judgement, upheld the acquittal, saying the magistrate had provided an answer to the assertion that post-journey checks were needed to combat fare evasion.");document.write("

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"In (Mr Hardy's) opinion, the power. . . could not have been intended to extend until after the completion of the journey; for otherwise, who would say how long it went on?"

Outside court, Mr Orlowski, a 41-year-old computer analyst, said his actions were triggered months before when he watched a tourist surrounded by inspectors struggle to explain that others on a departed tram were still holding his ticket.

"That's why I made the decision. If they want to check the tickets, they can do it on board, within the tram, but not after I get out of it," he said.

Transport Minster Peter Batchelor vowed to change the law if grounds to appeal yesterday's decision could not be found. "If there are loopholes, we will close them," Mr Batchelor said. "We've got to protect the integrity of the system."

While the full implications of the decision for commuters, transport companies and the Government were yet to be understood, Mr Batchelor said, discussions were planned yesterday afternoon with the transport companies over their inspection protocols. What hadn't changed, he said, was the need for commuters to travel with a valid ticket.

M>Tram spokeswoman Simone Gandur said tram ticket inspectors had been told yesterday not to check tickets "off system" - at tram stops - for the time being until after further discussions with the Government.

Opposition Leader Robert Doyle said the case showed the Government needed to clarify the situation for public transport users and inspectors. "They need to be very clear with their guidelines to those inspectors and to the company who employs them," Mr Doyle said.

"We need to make sure that. . . we don't allow fare evasion, but also we don't infringe on people's private rights and we're not unpleasant about going about collecting fares and tickets."

Public Transport Users Association vice-president Anna Morton applauded the judge's decision. She said fare evasion could be stemmed by putting conductors back on trams and more staff at train stations.